I met Basil Poledouris on two separate occasions. Once (which was more of a 'bumped into') was outside the Royal Albert Hall in London some years back when John Barry was conducting a concert of his film music. My group literally walked into him and Richard Kraft (his agent). Everyone was just so excited at seeing John Barry give a concert, there was no line between fans and musicians. He was very friendly and courteous and didn't seem to mind the 'grilling' I gave him (what ya workin' on, who's in it?, what's next etc). He and Mr Kraft seemed just as excited about the concert as our gang. The second time was July this year in Ubeda. You could tell he was sick (or certainly coming off a major operation of some kind) but he was just so friendly and honestly in awe of the fuss being made about him. He would roam around the Conference area (which was like something out of Conan) chatting with fans or organisers or the other composers (Frizzell, Debney, Ottman etc) and when he bounded on stage to perform the Conan suite he looked liked a crazy ninja (and appeared about 30 years of age again). He said the whole event had been an 'epiphany' for him and helped him reconnect with something he'd fell out of love with. I honestly expected the next big news item to be he was signed up for some new big movie, certainly not his death. The day after the concert, he kinda eschewed the formal Q+A approach to his seminar and roamed around the stage, taking questions and playing little impromtu melodies at the piano on the stage. Later that evening, in a beautiful Spanish hacienda, fans, organisers and musicians gathered to eat, drink, chat and listen to a local Gypsy band perform in the gardens. Everyone kinda roamed around, bouncing off one another and I asked Basil about his memories of Big Wednesday, which to this day is still my favourite score by him and the first one I fell in love with back in the late '70s. He got really nostalgic, recounting incidents from the film which were based on real life incidents he and John Milius had shared. We chatted for some time before he was pulled away by another party (his parting comment was he could talk about John Milius and Big Wednesday all night). I thank God I got the chance to see him perform live, to see a GREAT man in action, and the thought of no new music from this fine musician fills me with sadness. I hope Intrada, Varese etc can whip up some unreleased gems to commemorate the passing of a film music LEGEND! Bravo Basil, you made my world a better place. Sleep Peacefully.

I met Basil Poledouris on two separate occasions. Once (which was more of a 'bumped into') was outside the Royal Albert Hall in London some years back when John Barry was conducting a concert of his film music. My group literally walked into him and Richard Kraft (his agent). Everyone was just so excited at seeing John Barry give a concert, there was no line between fans and musicians. He was very friendly and courteous and didn't seem to mind the 'grilling' I gave him (what ya workin' on, who's in it?, what's next etc). He and Mr Kraft seemed just as excited about the concert as our gang. The second time was July this year in Ubeda. You could tell he was sick (or certainly coming off a major operation of some kind) but he was just so friendly and honestly in awe of the fuss being made about him. He would roam around the Conference area (which was like something out of Conan) chatting with fans or organisers or the other composers (Frizzell, Debney, Ottman etc) and when he bounded on stage to perform the Conan suite he looked liked a crazy ninja (and appeared about 30 years of age again). He said the whole event had been an 'epiphany' for him and helped him reconnect with something he'd fell out of love with. I honestly expected the next big news item to be he was signed up for some new big movie, certainly not his death. The day after the concert, he kinda eschewed the formal Q+A approach to his seminar and roamed around the stage, taking questions and playing little impromtu melodies at the piano on the stage. Later that evening, in a beautiful Spanish hacienda, fans, organisers and musicians gathered to eat, drink, chat and listen to a local Gypsy band perform in the gardens. Everyone kinda roamed around, bouncing off one another and I asked Basil about his memories of Big Wednesday, which to this day is still my favourite score by him and the first one I fell in love with back in the late '70s. He got really nostalgic, recounting incidents from the film which were based on real life incidents he and John Milius had shared. We chatted for some time before he was pulled away by another party (his parting comment was he could talk about John Milius and Big Wednesday all night). I thank God I got the chance to see him perform live, to see a GREAT man in action, and the thought of no new music from this fine musician fills me with sadness. I hope Intrada, Varese etc can whip up some unreleased gems to commemorate the passing of a film music LEGEND! Bravo Basil, you made my world a better place. Sleep Peacefully.

Kevin McGann

Kevin, I love Spain, the history, plains and dust,pagentry, art, women and wine, music, and Basil's music. Somehow, he has now been added to the heady brew. This concert has taken on mythic proportions already in the heads and hearts of us who couldn't be there. Thanks for bringing it a little closer, and also for adding to the legendary aspects. Niall.

I know that such sadness will not stop the older I get but when someone a little younger that has added so much joy to my life dies it is even more difficult. As a two time Cancer survivor I associate with this passing even more. Damn, damn, damn the big C !